Andre Leon Talley Left 'Vogue' for 'Numero Russia,' Is Excited About Fashion Shoots in Cemeteries

Andre Leon Talley, a pillar of the American fashion media and a longtime mainstay at Vogue, left the iconic fashion bible earlier this month—and the underlying assumption was that he'd gone to focus, full-time, on his burgeoning television career as a talk show host. But news broke yesterday that the magazine veteran has, in addition to his development deal with NBC, joined the masthead at Numero Russia as editor-at-large.

"My strategy is to bring my training," he told WWD about his plans for Numero. "I feel that I have definite skills to bring to Numero Russia, something exciting for the Russian market and the Russian fashion reader that creates a human side to the fashion theme, a human narrative."

As for how he'll have a direct hand in editorial, Talley proposes that he'll orchestrate "shoots in Russia with historical narrative relevant to the Russian landscape that is only Russian." This means photoshoots in "humble Russian villages" and in "provinces you reach by car or plane, that are not right outside of Moscow or Saint Petersburg." He'll also be shooting in, um, "cemeteries with their run-down graves and people still living there like 100 years ago."

Not sure how all that couture-in-the-countryside is going to go over in a country where the widening rich-poor gap is a serious socio-economic concern. But here's something Talley has planned that we're pretty sure will go down sweet: Naomi Campbell will grace his first Numero cover.

"I chose her because she lives in Russia now," Talley said. "She has a Russian life with her boyfriend Vladimir [Doronin]. They have an extraordinary new house by Zaha Hadid, and I was privileged enough to see it before it was completed. It's extraordinarily modern to be in Russia."